Ratchet wrench



W. A. BARNES RATCHET WRENCH Dec. 13, 1960 Filed Jan 28 INVENTOR v @m v QWILLIAM A. BARNES BY WW MW w W XWWF ATTORNEYS zkai ia z United StatesPatent RATCHET WRENCH William A. Barnes, Utica, N.Y., assignor toKelsey-Hayes Corporation Filed Jan. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 789,645

'2 Claims. (C]. 8162) This invention relates to ratchet wrenchconstruction in general, and relates -more specifically to an improvedpawl actuation means to control rotational direction.

Ratchet wrenches, whether of open end construction or with a socketattachment stud, are generally quite Well known and understood.Improvements have long been confined to refinements'of-operation.

Such ratchet devices employ an external manualcontrol handle,which'handle is used to throw a pawl or pawl means, from one operativeposition to another. Sometimes one position is a neutral positionwherein 'no holding action is effected.

Generally, however, the handlemoves between two positions representing aclockwise drive, and a counterclockwise drive condition.

Further, the prior known constructions commercially available have suchcontrol handles located in an exposed position on the wrench 'surface,and in such position this is a hindrance to .placement of the wrench inclose quarters. Worse 'still, in such exposed position, contact of thehandle by any object can change the intended rotation direction andnecessitate resetting of the ratchet direction.

Another principal object of this invention is to provide a manualcontrol for such wrench which is recessed and protected againstunintentional control actuation.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had byreferring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a wrenchconstructed according to theprinciples of this invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the wrench of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlargement of the head area of the wrench shown inFigure 1 with a cover portion broken away; and,

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 44 of Figure 3.

Referring now to the drawing, the preferred commercial embodiment of theinvention is illustrated in suflicient detail that one skilled in thisart can appreciate the operative construction and the technique ofproper use of the invention.

The reference character refers to the head portion of a wrench body, andthe reference character 11 refers to the handle portion. Thisconstruction of handle and head portion is substanttially conventionalin ap pearance.

The head portion 10 is bored out to provide a bore housing 12 passinglaterally through the head 10. In this bore housing 12 resides a drivehead 13. Drive head 13 is composed generally of a ratchet gear portion14 having peripheral teeth therearound, and a rigid drive shaft 15 forthe reception of suitable driven members such as socket devices.

Basically, it is the purpose of this wrench, as in con- 2,963,929Patented Dec. 13, 1960 ventional wrenches, to interconnect the drivehead '13 with the wrench proper by means of a pawl detent in order thatthe handle may ratchet freely in one direction and then apply driveforce when the direction of the handle is reversed. However, in thisinvention, the pawl construction and ratchet operation are unique :andimproved with respect to prior devices.

As best seen in Figure 3, a pawl detent 29 is located at one side of'thebore housing 12. The pawl dete11t20 is ofyoke form and has a firsttoothed end 21 and a-sec- 0nd toothed end 22. Pawl 20 has a fulcrumbearing surface 23, which is seated in asocket recess 27. Thus, the pawlispivotable on'the fulcrum .23 about the recess 27 asa center, in orderto engage, selectively, either the first end.21 or the second end 22with the toothed periphcry of the gear ratchet portion 14 of drive head13.

The ratchet gear portion 14 of 'the drive head 13 is counterbored to,provide the recess indicated by reference character 16. A control knob30 resides in this recess. For the illustrated embodiment of theinvention, .a control bar 31 is provided in order to permit .finger gripmanual operation of the control knob 30. 1

A resilient C-shaped actuator 35 encompasses the control knob 30. A tabrecess notch 26 is provided in knob 30. The actuator 35 is interlockedwith knob 30 by means of a tab projection 38 which interfits intothe'tab recess notch 26 in the knob 30. Thus, whenever the knob 30 isrotated about its axis, the C-shaped actuator '35 is rotated with theknob.

The actuator 35 has a first cam end 36 and a second cam end 37. InFigure 3 it will be seen that the pawl detent 20 has .two shoulder earns24 and 25. Shoulder 24 is on the firstend 21 and .is actuated by contactof the actuator end 36 therewith. Likewise, the shoulder 25 on the pawlsecond-end 22 is contacted by the actuator end 37.

In Figure 3 the finger grip bar 31 has been rotated to move the knob 30and the actuator 35 in a clockwise direction and thus the actuator end37 has been caused to sweep along the shoulder 25 and lock the pawldetent against the right-hand side of the bore housing '12. Thus, thefirst end 21 of the pawl detent is brought into engagement with theperipheral teeth of the drive head 13. In such condition, as illustratedin Figure 3, if a pull is applied upon the handle 11 in an effort torotate the head 10 in a clockwise direction about the axis of the shaft15, adriveforce will be imposed through 'the shaft 15. The reason thatrelative movement of the head 10 and the drive head 13 is prevented isthe fact that the pawl 20 is interlocked with the gear ratchet portion14. Those skilled in the art of ratchet wrench construction will bereadily able to visualize this locked condition. The C formation, andresilient nature of the actuator serves to hold the pawl yoke firmly inposition, but allows reverse stroke ratcheting to take place. Uponreverse stroke of the drive handle, the engaged teeth of gear and detentare cammed apart. The actuator allows the yoke detent to pivot againstthe holding urge of the actuator to accomplish such ratcheting.

The finger grip bar 31 may be said to have a neutral position lyingalong the longitudinal axis of the handle, although in reality the baris never maintained in such a neutral position. Hence, the neutralposition is referred to only for the purposes of comparative reference.In Figure 3, as previously described, the finger grip bar 31 has beenrotated in a clockwise direction with respect to the neutral position.Such rotation has caused the C-shaped actuator 35 and the related camsurfaces of the pawl detent '20 to move to a drive condition whereindrive through the shaft 15 can be accomplished in a clockwise direction.This accomplishment is unique in ratchet wrench construction. Inconventionva1 construction, whatever control lever is provided forft'ion. provides the proper type of control, and this. control isconsiderably desired by mechanics using thistool. There is no reversethinking necessary in order to determine which way to throw the controlhandle to provide 1 the proper hand of operation.

It follows, that reversal of the position of the finger grip bar 31 to aposition counterclockwise of the neutral position of that shown inFigure 3 will actuate the yoke detent 20 into a reversed position andcreate a counterclockwise driving direction of the tool.

To complete the assembly, a cover plate 32 is held over the top of thebore housing 12 by means of a holding screw 33. This cover plate willhold the C-shaped actuator 35 and the control knob 30 in the counterbore16 and yet allow relative actuating movement of the control knob 30. Inorder to prevent excessive loosenessof the control 'knob, a pressurespring 34 is positioned at the bottom of the recess 16 as illustratedbest in Figure 4.

It should be noted that the control knob 30 resides completely withinthe plane of the surface of head 10 and this is recessed to preventaccidental contact by an associated work member which causes an unwantedchange of wrench direction of operation, and also permits a far morestreamlined form for the wrench which vwill allow access in tightplaces.

Although this invention has been descibcd in its'preferred form with acertain degree of particularlity, it is understood that the presentdisclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of exampleand that numerous changes in the details of construction and thecombination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafterclaimed.

What is claimed is: a

1. A ratchet wrench comprising, a handle having an enlarged drive end,said drive end having a bore and a coaxial counterbore, a drive bodyrotatably carried by the handle and having a tool drive portionprojecting .axially through the bore, the body also having a gearedactuation portion disposed in the counterbore, means to 'hold the bodyagainst axial movement relative to the handle, said geared actuationportion including a periph eral gear and a bottomed bore extendinggenerally axially from the end opposite said drive portion, a selectorknob having a guide portion pivotally carried in said 4 bottomed bore,the handle also having a recess formed therein and in communication withthe counter bore, a yoke pivotally carried in the recess, the yokehaving first and second gear segments formed at its ends, a split ringspring operatively engageable with said yoke and in operative engagementwith said selector knob, said knob having first and second adjustmentpositions, said first gear segment being held by the spring in yieldableengagement with the geared actuation portion when the knob is in thefirst adjustment position, said second gear segment being held by thespring in yieldable engagement with the geared actuation portion whenthe knob is in the second adjustment position, and means to retain thewrench in an assembled condition. 7

2. A ratchet construction and control, comprising, a body housingmember, said housing member having walls defining an internal housingrecess, a drive member, said drive member having a geared portion housedin said recess, said body housing member and said gear portion beingrelatively rotatable about a common axis, a

pawl yoke carried by said body laterally of said geared portion, saidyoke having a pivotal axis generally par-allel said common axis, saidyoke having a first and second gear engaging detent end, said yokehaving a first posii tion wherein said first end is in detentengagementw-ith said geared portion and a second position wherein saidsecond end is in engagement with said geared portion, a O-shaped controlactuator spring having a first and second cam end, said actuator beingpositioned and guided for revolving movement around the said commonaxis, said first cam end in cam actuation contact with said yoke firstdetent end, said second cam end in cam actuation contact with said yokesecond detent end, and said yoke being yieldable in the plane thereof toallow yoke pivotal movement to take place against the holding force ofthe actuator for reverse ratcheting of said geared portion past theholding detent.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

